The SEPTEMBER 2006 EDDYLINE NORTHWEST VOYAGEURS CANOE AND KAYAK CLUB

Since 1964 Since 1964 Box 1341, Edmonton, AB T5J 2N2 Internet Address: www.nwvoyageurs.com Upcoming Events

Sept 27 (Wed) General Meeting 7:30 pm Lions Seniors Centre, 11113 -113 St. TBA

Oct 3 (Tues) Executive Meeting—Moved to Oct 10

Oct 7 (Sat) Trip Schedule Change - North Saskatchewan from Genesse Bridge to Golden Spike Change from Oct 8 to Oct 7— A nice fall paddle of about 4 or 5 hours—perhaps a weiner roast to end the season. This change in trip date was requested so that families can enjoy Thanksgiving Sunday & Monday together—Contact Melvyn Kadyk 484-3563

Oct 10 (Tues) Executive Meeting 7:30 pm Lions Seniors Centre, 11113 -113 St. The club executive meets to discuss club business. Members are welcome to attend.

Nov 22 (Wed) Photo Contest — General Meeting 7:30 pm Lions Seniors Centre, 11113 -113 St. Enter your photos from this year. Members are welcome to attend.

January to Beginner Kayak Lessons — Starting January 2007 April 2007 Lessons start January 5, 2007 More information to come NWV EXECUTIVE 2006

President Rick Fetterly 438-1296 fetterly(a)shaw.ca * Vice President Doug Knight 435-2348 dknight(a)telusplanet.net Treasurer Norma Ouellette 444-0263 normao(a)nait.ab.ca Secretary Josephine Petesky 474-2751 * Membership Steve Budziszyn 461-3292 * Newsletter Don Litven 476-7006 don_litven(a)hotmail.com Website Ben Coxworth 438-4062 coxworth(a)shaw.ca * Publicity/Archives Alan Stewart 487-0607 * Trip Coordinator Melvyn Kadyk 484-3563 Canoe Coordinator Doug Knight 435-2348 dknight(a)telusplanet.net * Kayak Coordinator Robin Benbow 435-2901 rbenbow(a)gmail.com * Equipment Manager Larry Richard 454-8680 patlarry(a)ocii.com Social Coordinator Brian Walker 975-5976 brianwalker(a)hotmail.com Member at Large Kurt Sejr 922-6200 sejr(a)wildroseinternet.ca NWV Internet Address: www.nwvoyageurs.com NWV Snail Mail Address: Box 1341, Edmonton, T5J 2N2

* Indicates new person in position

Kayak Lessons are slated to start January 2007

Kayak Lessons Coming 2007 2 Sets of Sessions 7 Consecutive Fridays 7:30 –10:00pm Starting Friday, January 5, 2007

More information to be announced

Have you heard about the Heritage River

Study?

The (North Saskatchewan) Heritage River Study is now available and can be downloaded free from the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance (NSWA) website.

Go to www.nswa.ab.ca and look under 'Publications’. The Heritage River Study is background for a submission calling for the North Saskatchewan to be offi- cially as a Canadian Heritage River. It has a wealth of information on the his- toric events and natural history of our river.

The NSWA also published The Guide, available through many local and regional book- stores.

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7430 99st Edmonton (780) 432-1223 totemoutfitters.com THE FREEMAN RIVER

June 18, 2006

Participants – Doug and Leslie Knight, Margriet Von Laarhoven , Jarret Robocon, Ric Fetterly

The idea to paddle the Freeman River came from an article in the Edmonton Journal on July 14, 2005 written by Calvin Maxfield. In his article he says “ The Freeman River is twisty and tight so the pace was thrilling and at some moments dangerous. You get to test all your river skills on a regular basis like ferrying, drawing, and for the unlucky, maybe some basic rescue. Strap everything down, wear your life jacket and carry an extra paddle because this river can rock you.” I stopped to look at the river from the Highway 658 crossing numerous times and it looked so inviting. The launch is a very short distance off Highway 33 from to Barrhead while the takeout is at the . The first time the river was tried was too weeks prior to the scheduled date. At that time, the river was running 115 cms and brown like mocha ice cream. There was no attempt to avoid the rocks since there are very few in the Freeman and you could not see them if your tried. There was no actual channel evident so we paddled wherever we thought looked interesting. The strong current whipped us along at about 15 km/h and that combined with the numerous corners ended all thoughts of a relaxing paddle. On June 18, the river had dropped to 55 cms but the current seems as strong as before. The channel was more pro- nounced than the previous trip and that made the sweepers more of a hazard. When Calvin Maxwell paddled the Freeman at a level of 23 cms, it was flowing at 11-12 km/h with sections up to 14 km/h, but he did say, “There are many sandbars and shallow gravel sections to avoid or to stop at for a break.” One statement from Calvin Maxwell best describes the Freeman “ The Freeman has, without a doubt, more formidable log jams and sweepers than I’ve seen on any river. It made for a great day of paddling close to the city but I only wish that it were longer than nineteen kilometres.

Ric Fetterly

Blackstone/Wapiabi Trip Report June 24 – 25, 2006

Participants: Chuck & Brenda Elliott, Frank Geddes, Mike Ivanchikov, Brian Ols on, Jarret Robocon, Dave Sitar, Nigel Tuffrey

The weather cooperated with us for a fun get together at another of central Alberta’s scenic . With sunny skies and low/medium flows we opted to run two sections of the Blackstone instead of running the Wapiabi. We camped at the provincial campsite on the Chungo Road where it crosses the Blackstone River. Rates were $15/night for a tenting spot including gravel pad, fire pit, and picnic table. Oh yes, seniors are free so Chuck cashed in. There were toilets, free fire- wood, and a cook shack. No drinking water was available.

Our group made up 80% of the camp occupants. On Saturday morning we drove west of the camp to the old bridge crossing which turned into a new bridge crossing for resource harvesting. Thanks to Brenda for facilitating our shuttles. This section of the Blackstone was fairly boney and we spent a fair amount of time dodging and scraping rocks with lots of play spots in between. A good technical run and is great for beginners. This section was paddled in about 4 hours.

We drove upstream in Jarret’s truck afterwards and hiked into the Blackstone River Gap where the river exits fro m the Forest Land Use Zone (FLUZ) through a 2 km gap between two mountains. Last year’s flood showed a water level of 6 – 10 feet higher than normal and a great amount of erosion down the valley. On the way back we scouted a narrow section where the river is forced through a 1.5 meter chute and realized the water level was slightly too low to make for an enjoyable experience.

Back at the camp we discussed our options for Sunday’s run and decided to run the lower section from our camp to the bridge on the trunk road – another 4 hour trip. Chuck opted to forego this run. Again Brenda shuttled us on Sunday. There was fine volume in this section and was an easy class II with lots of small play spots and a few small ledges. The scenery throughout the trip was fantastic and the temperature at night went down to maybe 8º C. A good time was had by all.

Submitted by Brian Olson

ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST Enter at the Annual General Meeting Wednesday November 22, 2006 7:30 pm

Lions Senior Centre

Enter your photos from this year in the following categories: Action on the River At the Campsite Humour / Other

Contest is Open to Northwest Voyageurs Club Members

SEE YOU THERE !!!!!

Get the word out -Pass it on

Do you know of anyone that may be interested in canoeing, sea kayaking or white water kayaking ? Why not pass along some information about our club. The more like minded people in the club the more fun we all have!!! Pass us along to your friends, family, and co-workers. Trip Report from July 9 & 10, 2005 Sorry, but we missed publishing this report in an earlier issue. I hope that later is better than never! Again my apologies — NWV Eddyline Editor - Don Litven

LESSER - July 9 & 10, 2005

Participants: Melvin Kadyk paddling with Erika Ewen Clarence Kadyk paddling with Jennifer Costie Jeanette and Sam Sewchuk Tony Cale and Sheila Sutherland Phil Dunn and André Nahachewski Cathy and Joey Dunn (and Bandit)

Most of the paddlers arrived on Friday evening at our cabin site, located on the Lesser Slave River about 13 kilometers from the hamlet of Smith. (Look for school bus stop #7) Tents were set up. Quite a bit of visiting went on over cups of tea, etc.

Saturday morning brought the balance of our party. After finalizing plans for the shuttle vehicles, we all headed up the road to the Tomler Bridge, which is the put-in point.

Boats were packed and everything ready for the group to head out on the river by about 10:30 a.m. The weather was sunny and warm and water levels were quite high this year with the water doin g a lot of the work to keep us moving along down the river. Again, lots of visiting and learning about paddling partners kept the morning interesting and fun.

We pulled off for lunch at a water plant where it was more open and the breeze was effective at keeping away insects, for the most part. Phil, being the terrible slave driving trip leader, kept us on our toes, as you can see by this photograph:

It’s such a hard life with a task master like that.

Melvin had a nifty GPS unit with him so he kept records of how far we had come and at what speed.

After our lunch stop of about an hour we paddled on and enjoyed more sunshin e and visiting. We took a short break just down stream of the place where the Otauwa River enters the Lesser Slave and then another where the Salteaux River joins in. This is our “home stretch” where the water is a bit faster and we need to be aware of a possible log jam. We pulled out down stream of the cabin as, with high water levels, there wasn’t a large enough space at our landing. Our friends, Norm and Maggie, let us pull out there and we left the canoes there for the night.

Suppers and visiting were enjoyed around the campfire by the cabin.

Sunday morning Phil and Cathy hosted a pancake breakfast for everyone. It seemed to be enjoyed by everyone – especially Bandit, who loves to help with clean up and has such good “mooch” eyes.

Joey and Cathy decided to stay at the cabin and the others paddled on down the river. As the lower stretch tends to be faster, the group made a record 20.1 kilometers per hour for a short stretch. Wow!! The second day was a fast trip (about 2 ½ hours) with no stopping for lunch but rather a large floating diner going down the river. One stop on the side of the river, with its muddy, sandy banks, showed why this was the best idea for the day. Bio breaks were a challenge.

Thanks to Melvin’s GPS we know the trip was 56.4 kilometers (less walk- ing from Norm’s landing to the cabin). Total travel time was 7 hours and 39 minutes. Lunch and rest stops added an enjoyable 2 hours and 31 minutes – but only the GPS was counting.

The paddlers were enjoying it all.

Phil and Cathy Dunn (and Bandit) Kayak Rescue Course August 12, 13 by Chuck Elliott

Participants: Chuck Elliott, Iva and Jack Isop, Vanja Jovic, Dick Latham

Friday evening was wet with steady rain. A tarp and camp fire made everything cosy at the Cache Hill user maintained site. Saturday and Sunday were warm and beautiful however.

The river was up to about 40 cms (estimate) with the rain which is a medium level and well suited our inten- tions. The formal course with practice drills ended about 2:30 pm and we drove upstream to Wysenchuk's Crossing to paddle back down to Cache Hill. On Sunday, 4 of us paddled the lower Mad Mile section which includes the notorious Double Ledge. After scouting, two of us ran it.

All paricipants enjoyed the weekend and commented that they learned something useful. Ivan's words were - “I had a blast!”

It pleased me that Jack, at 14 years old has progressed so quickly, just leaning to roll in July and handle class II whitewater in the previous week (Whirlpool River). He was assisting on rescues on Saturday.

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A FEW PICTURES

F R O M BLAST FROM THE PAST Here is some humor from about 16 years ago. These reminded me of a few paddlers that I know and thought I would share these with you. Newsletter Editor, Don Litven

Are You a Paddling

Addict??? You might be, if you notice your non- paddling friends are now afraid to drive with you down any road crossing a river !!!